Hi OzB,
So my whole family received a fine for $20 for not voting in the by-election. Can anyone offer insight on what happened if they didn't pay? I find it ludicrous that they'll take it to court. Im pretty sure i was interstate for that entire week, and the others just oblivious it was on. We're the sort of people to forget either. Now i do have friends in the medical profession who can cough help. But id rather not even though they've offered.
In the USA where it is not compulsory, there is literally Billions of dollars spent on election campaigns…. whoever convinces the most people to vote wins. Money assists this.
So I am glad it is compulsory here. You do have the option to vote out Liberal and Labor by voting one of the others. Its just not enough of other people do as well.
So I am glad it is compulsory here. You do have the option to vote out Liberal and Labor by voting one of the others. Its just not enough of other people do as well.
Not powerful enough to dummy-vote them thanks to preferential voting..
It's silly to dummy vote anyway. There's usually an alternative party that shares most of your values, like the lesser known Pirate Party.
With a bit of luck you will be taken to court and fined to the maximum extent. People like you who shirk their democratic responsibilities should be prosecuted to the full extent of the law.
avoid paying the fines saying that you and your family are jehovah witness' followers.
… they usually ask for substantiating evidence for excuses like this (especially if the voter participated in the general election mere months earlier).
Recent convert?
How does that work… What I mean is, do you have not vote every election and then write in to get out of the fine? Or can you get removed from the electoral roll and never have to vote again?
Typo. It should read: do you have TO not vote every election…
Is it what says no matter how bad you are and what crimes/sins you commit your life will be beautiful as long as you join them (or confess)?
It's a ridiculous situation to begin with.
A local member's party doesn't win government, but its leader wins his seat. He decides not to do the job he was elected to do (and told everyone he would do, regardless of the result), forcing everyone back to the polls again. You're busy/forget or can't attend and YOU'RE the one who has done something wrong.
Is it just me or does this sound wrong?
No, it's not just you. Voting in this country is completely pointless anyway.
Sure, I watched John Howard get rid of debt - but he did it by sucking the life out of infrastructure, health, education, etc.
Then Labour told Australia the fairy tale that handing out a few thousand dollars to most of us meant Australia would 'escape' the global financial crisis… when Australia never would have crashed like the US did because our circumstances were completely different. (And if anyone thinks those few thou$and managed to avoid something that enourmous - when most people spent it in the first few weeks of receiving, and the rest paid off debt or banked it - you're gullible.) And even if we had, it would have been a good thing - making it possible for people to live in their own home instead of paying rent to make someone else rich while you remain poor.
Now Liberal are back in, and yet again they're planning not only to rape the bare-bones existance of the elderly/disabled/etc. whose money goes to food and bills and not much else… but they're also wanting to steal even more of people's money by asset testing their homes, forcing the elderly and disabled into employment… Where exactly are all these extra jobs going to come from? By taking jobs from everyone else, of course.
In other words - you work all your life, pay for those who don't (and greedy government who pretend they do), then you retire, and slowly spend every cent you earned by cashing in your homw until hooray - now you're relying on the next generation being taxed too!
In the meantime, Liberal are saying everyone will 'feel pain' in the coming budget. But at the same time public servants are being given thousands of dollars in lump sum handouts in the hope they might feel like turning up to work more often. Everyone will feel the pain!? Yeah right. They're saying one thing, but arrogantly doing the EXACT OPPOSITE!
What needs to happen is to wipe government entirely and start again. All they do is make it impossible for businesses to get up and running, tax the pants off everyone, enact laws and policies that shovel money into their own greedy pockets. They destroy the few Australian businesses that hold on with free trade agreements, allowing other countries to ship food here cheaper than we can grow it, forcing Australian farmers give up and walk away - and make it so unprofitable for someone else to do it, that the only people wanting to buy the food-producing land are cashed-up asian conglomerates, who then either increase the food prices sky high, or ship it back to their own countries - which makes the little food remaining go sky-high in price anyway.
This forces Australians out of jobs - so the government creates more public servant vacancies out of thin air, to hide the real unemployment figure they created. More wages needed for useless public servant jobs, so they have to increase taxes on everyone else… and around and around it goes.
Labor are useless greedy dogs.
Liberal are useless greedy dogs.
The Greens are useless, greedy, wack jobs.
etc.
All these and other parties hand their (MY!) vote over to either Liberal or Labor. I don't want EITHER of them. So why should I be forced to vote when the choice is always one of two bunches of corrupt, lazy, greedy, selfish, thieving, mongrels.
There's no point to voting until either the voting system changes (whoever gets the most votes wins - and all other votes are discarded with no preferences given to other parties to gain political favours), or, all other Australians wake up to themselves and vote for independants only - wiping Labor & Liberal out of existance forever. Then the ones voted in might actually start to do their job, in fear of losing it at the next election and being sent back to a normal job, instead of the way it happens now. Which is…
The one voted out just gets shunted back one step into opposition. They still get paid. Still get the perks. Still get a say in enacting corrupt policies that steal money from everyone else to line their pockets. They effectively get a holiday - sit on the sidelines one their fat, lazy arses and heckle the one in power. They get paid to bide their time until the next election, when they all play musical chairs again.
Mickey Mouse gets my vote - and he's not even Australian.
What we need is a revolution.
You've got that right.
What a diatribe of misinformation and 1% truths. Politicians are on the nose for good reason in some cases but you obviously know sfa about what they do and the effort many of them put in to getting good policy for this country.
I wish you could walk in my shoes for a while and then name any politician that isn't on the nose. Actually, no I don't. I wouldn't wish that on anyone.
Yes all pollies are crooks, all cops are crooks, all clergy are molesters, in fact everyone else but you is flawed and untrustworthy.
Glad we got that settled.
I had no idea that as a public servant that there's thousands of lump sum payments available to me for feeling like turning up to work more often. How do I go about collecting these? Perhaps you could put a new bargain up with the coupon code? I'm keen!
Ah, you read it on the INTERNET - it must be true then.
It was a newspaper site, not just 'the internet'. It was on a few different ones for that matter. (Don't know where people get the idea because something is on the Internet it must be false. Every bit of knowledge known to man is available on the internet. Does that mean truth becomes lie because it's uploaded!? Better stop buying bargains on here then - they must not be real.)
Sadly, most of these people are not yet ready to be unplugged. The illusion of Australia being a lucky and free country will continue as long as it's profitable to continue the illusion. The system will keep our minds in chains as long as we keep voting ALP or LNP.. makes no difference to the ruling class which one.
Took me a few seconds to get the reference but you're spot on.
Australia was never a lucky country. Funny how this reference came from a book in the 1960s that was ironic in its use of the phrase.
Anyway, feel free to maintain your delusions about our society's suffering from our top down ruling system as you earn an income comfortable enough to afford internet. You have government support of your education to thank that for.
Oh and you also forgot to include that.. Anyone who tries to point out the obvious flaws in the 2 party dictatorship in this country is also indeed a nutty wackjob.
It truly astounds me that the majority still believe we live in a democracic society when the evidence does not support it. It's a corporatocracy where profit is placed before the best interests of the nation and its citizenry.
65% of voters gave their first preference to Liberal or Labor last election…
I think many people don't understand that their vote will still count if they don't number either of those two first. I doubt they also knew they were contributing $2.50 to them.
Maybe voting shouldn't be compulsory…
If voting worked, compulsory or otherwise. The ruling class wouldn't allow it.
There are plenty of hard-working public servants - my partner is one. I'm not aware of any payouts though? However, there are a craptonne of terrible public servants (particularly those in permanent positions) that are happily earning roughly $30 an hour to sit on their thumb. They could just about halve the workforce by weeding out the under performers, give the remainder a small pay rise, and be just as, if not more, efficient.
Exactly. They'll never trim the waste too much though, it would show the real unemployment figure and reveal all the jobs gov. creates out of thin air in order to hide it.
It's like how they want to drive disabled folk back into employment. Ok, I get that it would make them feel like contributing members of society, etc. That's just a smoke screen. Because for every two or three part time jobs they move into, one full time job disappears - driving that person into unemployment. Hardly makes that person feel like a contributing member of society. Gov. really are idiots. They only think one step ahead. Do they think moving people from disability into jobs will automatically create extra jobs out of thin air!?
Actually they probably will - more gov. jobs that is.
When I mention public servants, I usually mean politicians. I know nurses, teachers, etc. are technically public servants. They're not who I think of when I say it.
You're really full of it, and yourself. Unlike your stab in the dark approach to pretty much everything you've opined on in this thread the ABS uses valid scientifically established methods and systems to collate jobs data.
No doubt you'll be gobsmacked to learn that many disabled people want and are capable of contributing to the Australian workforce if given a chance. You'll be equally astonished to learn that they've been driving many of the changes in policy which will hopefully over time break down the ignorant attitudes of people such as you.
Not sure why you're putting words in my mouth. Because I never said they wouldn't.
What I really said was if there are 5 jobs employing 5 people, and gov. says 5 unemployed disabled folk should now work… there's still only 5 jobs. The only way 10 people can work 5 jobs, is if Abbott plans to force employers to turn a minimum percentage of full time jobs into part time ones. (Actually, I seem to remember Liberal saying this very thing a few years ago.)
That has nothing to do with the ABS. Unless they have a magic wand I don't know about, that creates jobs from thin air.
The guy that had a full time job is now part time. So he now doesn't have enough money to support his family. So he claims welfare. Brilliant solution! (Not.)
Furthermore, Abbott displays a disgusting attitude towards the disabled with this policy. Unlike his previous episodes of foot-in-mouth disease, it's been carefully worded to try and avoid offence. But it's still thinly veiled as "helping" the disabled to feel like "productive members of society." By default that says Abbott/Liberals/gov. - and apparently you also - believe the disabled are unfulfilled, unproductive, and a dead weight on society.
THAT is the real ignorant attitude if ever I heard one.
Well written. I am in accord with you on most of the issues you have brought up. People like use are, what is the right word, traditional conservatives? As opposed to the modern big business Liberals and neocon Republicans in the United States. We distrust powerful centralized government (~33% of people now work for the government), and governments that don't look after the proper interests of their constituents (eg allowing foreign investment in property, Free Trade agreements).
I usually write obscenities on my ballot paper as a way of protesting compulsory voting (democracy is supposed to be about freedom, therefore forcing people to vote in democratic elections is the ultimate in irony). The only party I haven't hated in the last 15 years was One Nation.
The Liberals are putting a lot of effort into being a one term party. There are a lot of elderly people who generally vote Liberal. If the Libs anger them with cuts, they loose. Republicans in Ameritopia are smart enough to avoid suggesting cutting benefits to Senior Citizens. For Liberals, 'sharing the pain' doesn't apply to politicians or to the bureaucrats who work for them. They need to lead by example if they want me to respect them.
One Nation. Lol. You're two peas in a pod no doubt. Paranoia and xenophobia running amok.
Democracy isn't just about your "freedom", it's about many other things including responsibility, social cohesion, human rights, the rule of reasonable law.
33% of people work in "government" jobs. So what's your point? That they all think and vote alike? They're all inherently untrustworthy, incompetent, or lazy? They all support government policy and action in every area? The vast majority are smart, well-educated, tolerant, intelligent, hard-working, committed people. They include nurses, carers, police, firies, scientists, doctors, economists, educators, researchers, lawyers, social workers, statisticians, agronomists, etc etc. Like every walk of life there are exceptions but many are far smarter and do far more for their country than you or I.
I didn't mind Pauline. She did seem a bit out of her depth, but people like that are needed. No third-generation brats coming up through the ranks riding their father's history with Labor/Liberal. Just ordinary Australians sick of gov. waste, political correctness, and the constant modifying of society to suit wacky minorities. People who will ask what the majority of Australians want and then actually do it, instead of their own agenda.
Xenophobic… LOL. Poor media puppet. Hanson has friends of many different nationalities. She was presented as racist yet had aboriginal friends in gaol. If she had been, she would have had her head beaten in. It takes a special kind of stupid to swallow lies the media put out at the time. It couldn't be because their owner supported a particular political party, could it? No of course not. The mass media is 100% unbiased and there's gold at the end of the rainbow guarded by unicorns. (Gag!)
"… a bit out of her depth". Seems you have at least one thing in common with the Ipswitch. It's obvious that you'd be an admirer. Like you she didn't have a clue about most social or political issues, but she knew she didn't like what she saw. People who don't understand things often react that way.
For a laugh let's explore your latest comment about majorities just a little. How do you propose governments find out what "the majority" thinks? Should your majority be consulted on every detail of government or just policies and expenditure you think are important? Should only those people who are well-versed on an issue be able to direct the government or should all members of this magical amorphous majority get a say? What should governments do when this font of all wisdom majority changes its mind, and who should get the blame when busines confidence is shot because of the lack of direction and stability? While you're applying your limited resources to thinking about those few trifles you might also like to look up the tyranny of the majority and consider how YOU might feel when inevitably you're no longer part of the great ruling group. Wacky? An appropriate description for the inconsistent, incoherent and ignorant rambling you've tossed into this thread.
When most of the nation is screaming they don't want workchoices - that's a pretty good example. Liberal wanted it in decades ago when John Howard was just the office coffee gopher. The public said no then. They still said no decades later. Howard arrogantly said he was going to do it anyway. People stuck "No Workchoices" posters up high on telegraph poles using cherry pickers. Printed stickers and stuck them on their cars. Liberal still ignored. Liberal got voted out.
The question is a bit strange actually, because both parties already do survey the public. Don't know why they bother though, because they ignore us and do what they like anyway.
You ask what happens if government does something people ask for, but then we change our minds.
First that would only happen if they deliberately set it up in such a way that it was sure to fail.
Second, us changing our mind still doesn't justify them making any major change they like, when Australians are screaming they don't want it. It's like saying they're infalliable, so they should get free reign to do whatever they like even if it's the opposite of why you yourself voted for them.
That's the practice of dictatorships. Sure, we can vote them out if we didn't like what they did. But to say they shouldn't do what the majority want is admitting we have the democratic choice of which dictatorship rules us, LOL.
Anyway, I'm done.
Jehovahs witness 9/10 will work.
Just saying you were interstate, had a family emergency, forgot please show leniency etc will not get you off.
Otherwise, it's $20….just pay it??
Because of a huge number of these cases the AEC has a general policy of not prosecuting people who provide a reasonable excuse as it is a huge administrative task to followup thousands of these cases. They will go hard after people who are argumentative, conscientiously object or objectionably lazy.
The basic rule therefore is don't be a smartass and you'll probably be OK. Assuming you don't have age or illness as an excuse there are other ways to avoid the fine. If you write a reply saying you didn't think you needed to vote because your electorate was <state electorate, or neighbouring federal electorate> not Griffith you'll probably be fine. You could also say sorry and ask if it is possible to send the vote in now (you can't) as it demonstrates your cluelessness as to electoral matters and lack of smartarseness.
On this note, the WA situation might give you an idea of the enormity of logistical issues they face. They once sent me a letter saying I hadn't voted when in fact I'd voted absentee (I wasn't prosecuted) and also sent me a letter saying they wouldn't prosecute an open-and-shut (but minor) breach of electoral laws by someone distributing unauthorised political advertising.
So… Accuse them of losing your vote and demand a new election??
I once got a fine notice for not voting in a by-election. I'd moved out of the electorate months earlier and genuinely thought I'd updated my AEC enrolment; but either hadn't, or the AEC had lost it.
I think there was a space on the form for dispute, which I wrote this explanation in, and sent back. I never heard about the matter again.
if you want to see bureaucracy in action, tell them that you recall voting at [insert polling station where you voted at the first time around]. If that doesn't get you off, they will spend at least an hour of our tax payers money checking that roll book again. If they tell you they can't find you as voted then say 'oh, that must have been on the first date'. then try one of the other excuses mentioned by others here.
I'm not sure about QLD, but in NSW, unpaid fines go to State Debt Recover and they have the power to do things such as cancelling your drivers license if you don't pay up. In this case, OSR will also add on an extra fee to cover their 'service'.
If you want to use a religious excuse (again I only know about NSW), you need to quote a relevant passage from your bible or equivalent where it states that you're not allowed to vote.
LOL. I don't think there is one, is there!?
I know the are taking people to court for unpaid fines for the last ACT election. From memory the fine then ends up around the 1k mark. So they could do it in QLD.
Mail goes missing all the time. If you sent in a postal vote and it didn't arrive, how is that your fault? Of course, it's probably unlikely that your whole family's votes got lost in the mail.
They'd have a record of a postal vote application. This won't fly.
I think that Jehovah's Witnesses have something against voting. Is that the OP's religion?
By the sounds of it you just didn't bother voting so cop the fine and pay it
I chose not to vote once. I think it was a local election. When I received the $60 (iirc) fine, I filled in the 'reason for not voting' section of the form stating that I suffer from bouts of crippling agoraphobia which makes it impossible for me to leave the house without major anxiety attacks.
It was a lie, of course. I had no supporting documents either.
Never heard back from them again. The fine disappeared into oblivion :) My guess is they probably don't get that excuse too often so they just let it slide, rather than using one of the typical excuses like being a Jehovah's Witness or being ill or whatever else people tend to use lol.
just pay the fines and get on with your life.
Not having a dig mate but it is primarily that mentality of just obeying stupid and unjust laws unchallenged that entrenches state power over it's subjects. Mandatory voting and indeed democracy in it's current form is a racket.
whether or not you think the current voting laws are just or not, you still need to obey them until they are changed. otherwise, i could go around commiting crimes and justify them by saying that i don't think the laws are correct.
Well that's generally how people protest wrong laws which brings about change.
I 'missed' the last Federal election, because I just came back from overseas that day. I wrote to them and gave them my flight number. And I've never heard back from them.
However, my flight actually arrived at 6:30 in the morning, before the poll booths opened! I guess they don't have the man power to check all 'excuses'.
It's $20, probably easier to just pay and forget about it rather than spend weeks or months contesting it.
Abbott clearly needs the money anyway :P
Especially since he's stealing it from pensioners. After he clearly said he wouldn't. Not that anyone's surprised. I once heard he was going to be a catholic priest. Since he lies most times he opens his mouth, he still could be.
Abbott and his destruction of the health system is going to hurt many of the people that voted for him.
Next time around it will be industrial relations and the workplace.
Then it will be education…Oh wait, he has already wiped many of the Gonski reforms while giving mining companies subsidies worth billions of dollars.
Abbott. The man who takes quality education from your children for the miners.
fine eventually grows and then they suspend your drivers license if you have one. i don't know what happens if you don't. mind you this was after about 3 years of not paying.
Then they take your dog!
If it's a "first offence", then pretty much any excuse will get you off, as long as it's sincerely phrased. My advice in your situation would be to say that the entire house-hold was struck down with gastro/food-poisoning on the day, and thus could not make it to a voting station. They will not ask for details, and your fine/s will disappear. Be warned though, a "BS excuse" only works once with these guys. I used one successfully once, but then the second time I tried it, they were having none of it; they were onto my (not very cunning/ fairly obvious) ruse.
The last thing I'll say is that I'm actually pretty glad the govt. "actively encourages" our peeps to vote (provided everyone is allowed one "BS excuse" for not doing so)… it would be a shame if we became like the USA (where voting is not compulsory) in this respect, where historically only abolut 20% of the citizens actually vote… hardly a "democracy in motion" ?!?
Anyways, maybes I've gone a bit deep with this. Just make any excuse, politely, and provided it's your first offense, they will forgive you. Then vote in future, or have a REAL excuse, that you can back up with evidence.
Peace, bro.
The last thing I'll say is that I'm actually pretty glad the govt. "actively encourages" our peeps to vote (provided everyone is allowed one "BS excuse" for not doing so)… it would be a shame if we became like the USA (where voting is not compulsory) in this respect, where historically only abolut 20% of the citizens actually vote… hardly a "democracy in motion" ?!?
What worries me about forcing an entire population to vote is the very good likelihood that many people will vote based on ignorance or indifference, which could ultimately affect the results just as much as only having a percentage of the population voting by 'choice'. I reckon that if you had a choice, the people who would bother to go out and vote would be the ones who have some passion and knowledge on the parties and policies. Not everyone cares for or takes much interest in politics - yet in this country, even those people are forced to vote. So what/who are they voting for? And on what basis? Is that truly fair?
FWIW, I think both options are flawed - forced voting or not, it will never be a perfect snapshot of an informed public opinion or preference. I personally still can't decide which I'd rather.
It's not perfect, but it keeps the pollies accountable to everybody and not just the richer like in the US. Just check who are the parties in favour of non-compulsory voting in Australia—the conservatives.
I think everyone should vote. But I think there should be an option on the voting form that says 'Can not decide'.
No need, just don't fill it in, you only have to attend, as tomsco says.
Yeah I know… but I just thought the idea of it’s illegal not to vote and yet it’s legal not to make a selection at the poll seems a little wrong. Compulsory voting is about democracy…everybody has a say in it. Then there should be a way for each voter to express exactly what he/she want/think. Leaving the form blank can mean so many different things. Apart from ‘Can not decide’, there should also have options like ‘None of the above’ , ‘Any of the above’ and ‘Do not care’…even 'Others' (ie Jehovah's Witness).
They would make it compulsory to make a valid selection if they could but it's impossible because your vote is secret. And there are better ways to make your views plain the other days when there isn't a poll. Democracy doesn't start and end at the polling station.
I agree with you totally. And also, at the end of the day, you can still leave the form blank…or tick all the boxes! And I don't think those extra options will affect the final outcome of the election. Unfortunately, there's no such thing as a perfect voting system…or a perfect Government for that matter.
Or a "No Confidence" vote. That would hopefully eliminate all of the donkey votes and pictures of appendages on voting forms.
But let's be honest. We don't really have a say. We vote for person A. They don't win so they hand my vote over to someone else as a preference.
Most people get to a point eventually where they realise the sad truth. It will only ever be Liberal or Labor running this country. So you start thinking, "It makes no difference how I vote. It's always Labor or Liberal anyway. So I may as well forget all other parties and just vote for the 'L' that I hate less."
There are so many reasons why I'm done with voting which will never change. For example, I'm sick and tired of politicians promising this or that to swing people's vote - then not long after they get in - they do EXACTLY the opposite. Last federal election, everyone KNEW Liberal had it in the bag. There was absolutely zero need for them to lie. But they STILL lied because that's what they do.
e.g. Liberal: Oh no, no changes to pensions from us. Ok - thanks for voting us in you morons. Now that you can't get rid of us for 3 years, first thing of any note we're going to do is change pensions. They lie every time their mouth opens. The only time they tell the truth is to prove they lied about something else.
I'm not going to enable these criminals any longer by voting for any of them. It only makes me an accessory to their crimes.
Exactly.
My "exactly" was in answer to mls82's comment above - not my own, LOL.
Technically they don't make you vote. They make you attend a polling station (or send in a postal vote). Having worked at several elections, I can tell you there is a high amount of non-voters, especially considering some of the lines they have to wait in.
I think voting like the USA would be great. When a government is so pathetic that people want them out - those are the people that get off their backside to vote.
Democracy in Australia my foot. I cast a vote and someone else changes my vote by preferencing another party that I deliberately did not want to vote for. Or when I vote for someone (Rudd for example), his own party stabs him in the back and replaces him with someone I wouldn't have voted for.
That's not democracy. That's the illusion of democracy.
You clearly don't understand how the Westminster system and the Australian election process work
1) Nobody "preferences" another party you didn't want. In the Lower House, you put the numbers you want, so if your first preference does not win, your vote goes to your second preference, then to your third…etc.
2) In the Senate, if you vote above the line, yes, the party decides where to preference your vote, but you can choose to vote below the line.
3) You're talking about preferences - guess what, in the US, they have a first past the post system, so you don't even get preferences. Bet you didn't know that!
4) You never voted for Rudd unless you live in the electorate of Griffith. You voted for your local member to represent you.
5) At the time Rudd was removed, the Labor caucus is the one who elects the leader, not you. All you do is elect a representative in the house for your electorate.
6) If you are voting based on who the leader is rather than party policy and what your political views are, then you clearly have no idea what's going on.
7) Australia's democracy and voting system is actually much better than many around the world including the US.
Just another ignorant voter who doesn't understand the system and goes around professing that he does.
But I do understand - that's my point - that most people will just vote above the line, which means whoever they voted for gets to hand your vote to someone else (that I probably wouldn't have voted for). A truly democratic system wouldn't allow that kind of voting. It's deliberately rigged so those of us who really think about what the country needs, don't have a say, thanks to all the lazy ones who will tick a box to get home quicker. (It will probably be the first box on the ballot too.)
But I did vote for Rudd… they presented him as their so-called 'leader', and people voted for him by voting above the line. (I say 'so-called' because the day after we vote, each party can decide to toss that person out.) If the party can't be tossed out for three years for telling their lies, then the leader they enter the election with shouldn't be able to be either (unless they themselves choose to leave).
Discussion is pointless anyway. Nothing will ever change. It will always be Labor or Liberal. And they'll never stop lying because of that fact. i.e. Absolute power corrupts absolutely.
I usually vote above the line, but I check out each voting ticket beforehand. There's usually a few that are closely aligned to how I'd number them anyway.
I'm not sure that like many people you even understand the real meaning of democracy. Democracy = The electing of a government by the people. We get the right to elect the representatives of our choosing.
But regarding the Senate. I agree that preferences should be banned. The Senate election is by proportional representation and preferences screw this system up totally.
The system is set up in such a way to make people apathetic. The country keeps swinging back and forth between two bad apples. They're both terrible, just in different ways. I've can't count how many people have said to me, L or L will always get in, so I just vote for the lesser of two evils. Evil is evil to me. I can't tell the difference so I'm admitting defeat. It might not be 'politically correct' (pun intended), but I think I'm only saying what most people secretly think as they drag themselves into a voting booth on Saturdays… "What's the point. Even if it's a different rose bush on Monday, it'll stick have the same pr#%ks."
Preferences - exactly. This would restore some hope the system wasn't beyond repair. But would politicians change something that doesn't suit their own best interests!?
"it'll STILL have"… man, some typos today!
Having read your comments on here I'd say the donkey vote is your best option.
You're probably right, since they're all jackasses. ;-)
Bugger me, I actually paid my fine and it was $75.00. I should have used one of these excuses instead.
I was hoping to find a discount code here.
This happened to me in the last Brisbane city council election. I was under the impression i could vote anywhere as in the state election. As it turns out you have to vote in your electorate. When i found this out it was 2pm i was across the city and had an exam at 3 so i didn't vote. 3 months later a fine for $100 turned up. I didn't pay it and a month later it was at the state debt collection service and i was charged an additional $60 for admin fees. Absolutely nothing you can do about it once it goes that far.
Lesson learnt
Are you sure!? We moved house and I was on the roll in our new area, but my wife wasn't for some reason. They just took her vote and wrote the details by hand. (NSW.)
im sure….i had to pay the fine
Ok. I meant them taking your details and still allowing you to vote, more than the fine. We moved, we notified them of that, they sent out letters saying we were changed over. Last/federal election, her name is not in the book in our area. They wrote name and address down, then gave her the voting sheet. Must be different between states.
I completely understand your situation OP and I'm sure you'll get sympathy because you were interstate and obviously unaware.
But to all the people who have CHOSEN to not vote and then give a bogus reason for it, that's actually illegal…I'm not sure why you're bragging about doing something illegal.
See, this is the kind of thing I detest. Killing someone should be illegal. Stealing a car should be illegal. But a government that decides not ticking a box on a piece of paper makes you a criminal - THEY'RE the criminals.
When they provide some honest people in government, that aren't lying turds who do everything they can for themselves and their mates whilst spitting in the face of everyone else… and all the rest I wrote earlier - then I'll start voting again. I will no longer vote for c or d, while they keep handing my vote over to a or b.
You don't have to tick, actually cross or number, any boxes.
not ticking a box on a piece of paper makes you a criminal
Well actually, it is legal….
But again, this is irrelevant, it is the law in this country for you to turn up and vote. Not doing so is an offense, which is why you get fined.
Whether the people in government are honest or not, whether you want to vote or not, whether you think this should be compulsory or not don't matter.
As a citizen, you are required to vote, if you disagree with this, then accept that you're committing an offense and pay the fine, or move to a country where you don't have to vote, there are many around the world.
I'm confused when people say if you don't like it then leave Australia. You have to apply to live in another country and be accepted. But immigrants are only accepted if they have certain vocations, an ongoing minimum level of income, etc. You can't just turn up and stay. You'll be deported.
As a citizen, I get my name marked off, walk to the cardboard booth, put a large X from corner to corner, stuff it into the box and walk out.
If I did cast a legitimate vote, my vote would only be wasted - because it will always be Labor or Liberal that wins. But if I do the X thing, then I'm also wasting my vote. Since in both cases I'm wasting my vote - I shouldn't be required to cast one.
As long as they force me to vote against my will, then I'll show both Labor & Liberal the respect they've always show me (none) - by not voting in a corrupt system that keeps putting the same two groups of criminals in power.
I'm well aware of that, however, the law is the law. You might not like all laws, that doesn't give you the right to not follow them. For example, you might hate taxes, that doesn't mean you have the right to just not pay taxes.
You are not wasting your vote. Imagine if everybody did that, that would be a farce and society would not work. Maybe you should grow up and stop whinging.
As long as they force me to vote against my will, then I'll show both Labor & Liberal the respect they've always show me (none).
So what you're saying is the government does nothing?
Do you drive your car to work every morning? Who do you think built the roads you drive on? Maybe you catch public transport, who do you think put infrastructure in place?
Have you gone to school? University? Who do you think sets up state schools and funds universities? Who do you think pays the teachers who work in schools? Who do you think most of the research grants at universities come from?
Have you ever been to the hospital? Who do you think built the hospital and is paying for your stay? Have you ever had surgery? Who do you think foots the bill for your surgery?
Do you enjoy a safe life where you don't fear being abducted or shot in the street? Who do you think funds the cost of law and order?
Do you enjoy living in a country that is protected by a powerful military? Who do you think funds military expenses?
And you think governments do nothing for their citizens?
This is the problem with people who are simply self-privileged and do not understand how amazing living conditions in Australia are. That is the society we are rewarded with when we have a democracy, when people who are marginalised get an equal say?
Would you like to live in a country where you are persecuted for your race or religion, where your kids don't have schools to attend, when you don't have generous governments funding university education, where you fear walking down the street because there is no law enforcement, a country ruled by dictatorships?
If not then, I think you should treat the government of Australia, as an institution, with more respect. You can hate certain politicians, I certainly do, but to say that the government does nothing and all politicians are no good just shows that you are plain ignorant of where Australia stands compared to the rest of the world.
So what you're saying is the government does nothing?
Oh, no. They do things alright, but for 40x times the cost they could and should be done for. The amount of money they steal and then just waste is absolutely incredible. Yet instead of reigning in their own waste, now they want to steal more to make up the difference - but not just from taxpayers - now I hear they want to take food out of the mouths of the aged and infirm too.
I won't answer all your points. (Not here to argue.) Suffice to say Australia only appears to not be a dictatorship. Those who have not experienced government corruption firsthand could never understand where I'm coming from.
Generally, being interstate won't be accepted as an excuse, because you'd have had the option to do a postal vote. I suspect if you wrote to them and said you were interstate and were not aware an election was even taking place though, that they might show some leniency.
If you don't pay up and do nothing, it will go to court and you'll then have a $70 bill instead.